Dr. Helen

Commentary on popular culture and society, from a (mostly) psychological perspective

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Crime Strike TV

I was flipping through channels today and happened to come upon a show with a woman being robbed at an ATM machine and subsequently kicking the guy in the balls until he fled. As she kicked him, her voice-over described how she had learned to defend herself in a class while working at a convenience store. She stated that if she had not fought back, she believes she would have been harmed or killed. She did not apologize or look frightened--she just stated what happened. At first, I was taken aback by a TV show that actually advocated fighting back as a way to avoid getting harmed: Most primetime shows usually show someone just acting scared, giving in, or feeling remorseful that they had to hurt someone.

However, I realized that I should not have been surprised by the positive portrayal of self-defense when I saw it was hosted by Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Rifle Association. The show, CrimeStrike "focuses on the people who have made life or death decisions that have ultimately put criminals behind bars. Crime Strike fills in the details where Cops and America's Most Wanted Fail." In a time when pantywaists like the UN try to say that self-defense is not a human right, it is refreshing to see that TV shows like Crime Strike realize that self-defense is the ultimate human right.

Take a look at the website--there is some good video of people defending themselves with weapons and it reflects guns and self-defense in a positive light. It's about time.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Carnival of Homeschooling

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Podcast with Judge Richard Posner

Today we are speaking with Richard Posner, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, about his new book, Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. Judge Posner discusses why the Constitution needs to stay flexible, fluid, and protean in times of national emergency. He also talks about surveillance, whether America should take a more "European approach" to terror (such as the MI5) and why the FBI, and law enforcement generally, are not up to the job of fighting terror.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Female Perp or just a Prison Romance?

Did you know that the bulk of sexual offenses in the U.S. and Va. prisons were committed by female workers? I had no idea but that is what a study on prison sexual offenses found (thanks to Fred Ray for sending me this article):

Roughly half of all sexual impropriety reported in U.S. prisons and jails last year was perpetrated by correctional staff, not inmates. Female staff were the offenders in two-thirds of the prison cases, and two-thirds of the victims of prison staff were male inmates, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

With 2 million men and 200,000 women behind bars in the United States, the problem appears small -- there were 344 substantiated incidents of staff sexual misconduct and harassment reported by authorities last year. But experts believe incidents are underreported, and the bureau study notes that many allegations remain under investigation.

Critics say just one improper relationship between staff and an inmate erodes discipline, security and morale in institutions where there is little privacy, few secrets and a strong reluctance to "snitch.

....While there is an element of supposed romance noted in many of the cases, sexual relations of any kind between prison employees and inmates are considered nonconsensual by law because of the inherent power that staff have over prisoners. In Virginia it is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

I love the reasons given for more female perpetrators:

Smith said it is not surprising that a larger number of female staff in prisons are involved in sex offenses. Male inmates outnumber female inmates more than 10-to-1. The federal report did not break down the data for homosexual versus heterosexual misconduct, but assuming most staff and most inmates are heterosexual, you would expect to find more female staff reported as perpetrators and more male inmates as victims, she said.

"You will often find that the culture that allows this kind of stuff to happen is also a culture that is particularly inhospitable to female staff," she said, noting that female staff might align themselves with inmates for protection.

So female staff become perpretrators because there are more male inmates and the prison culture is inhospitable to female staff? Would we ever utter such excuses for men who are perpetrating against women?